The source material for Darren Tolliday's work is the found object, predominantly passport photos discovered in the Manchester area over the last 12 years. These findings have been a result of accident rather than apprehending such material. These images contain a personal history for the individual who has lost or discarded them and offer possibilities for an artist who becomes the receiver of them.

This results in two events, the lost & found - for one there is the sense of need for retrieval, especially if it is a record of a personal memory or of a loved one, or an event/holiday/party. A sense of frustration and closure occurs, especially as the image can be reprinted from the negative or its digital record. For the person engaged in the find, the game/journey begins and the image of an individual can illicit all kinds of responses, interpretations and flights of fancy.

Passport photos are records of raw information and contain a matter-of -factness rather than beingpreoccupied with paintings subjective need to apprehend objects and create compositions of aesthetic appeal. Some of the works are paintings of the photos themselves as objects rather than focusing on their content. This premise concerns the fact that you are interpreting a record of reality and not reality itself and to this end the print quality of the image is copied rather than striving for work of a  dynamic expressive nature.

 

Digital prints are developed and used as transfers onto everyday mass-produced commodities such as cups and t-shirts. This approach is an attempt to explore the Warholian concept of universal fame and mass reproduction of the individual, a theme that is becoming more apparent with the media's obsession with the cult of personality and the tv docu-soap.

The passport image has a unique place in contemporary photography. The customer receives no negative or digital record, just the photos themselves. They have limited control over the results, the seat and background can be adjusted but they are instructed to look forward and wait for the flashing light. These images are for a purpose of indentification of the person (an increasing concern of the authorities since 9/11 and of future importance with the advent of identity cards) and therefore personality should be at a minimum and this results in awkward expressions.

 

Exhibitions:

2008    Open Exhibition, The Waterside Arts Centre, Sale

2004    GroupShow, Atkinson Gallery, Southport

2002    One Man Show, Greon Art Gallery, Manchester (Paintings , Drawings , Prints)

2002    Group Show, Narrative, Image Engine , Rochdale ,

2001    Noiz, Rogue Group Show, The Zion Centre, Manchester

2000    Two Person Show, Rochdale Art Gallery

1999    Artlink, Stockport Art Gallery